One and done: Cal beats USU in NCAA’s
All good things must come to an end.
The Utah State Volleyball team learned that principle firsthand as their magical season finally came to an end Friday night. The Aggies lost in straight sets to No. 4 California in their first-round match of the NCAA tournament, ending their six-game winning-streak and their season.
Despite the early-round loss, this Aggie team has no reason to be disappointed. The Aggies’ 24-9 record this year is the most wins for the program since 1982, and even more impressive compared to their record last year, when they went 15-14 and failed to even make the WAC tournament. This year, USU also captured its first-ever WAC championship, stunning No. 3 Hawaii in the championship game, and their NCAA tournament berth is only the fourth in school history, and the first since 2005.
“I really enjoyed this group of kids,” said head coach Grayson DuBose. “As good as they are at volleyball they’re probably even better people. They like being around each other, they enjoy each other’s company, and they are very supportive of each other. We were able to accomplish the most wonderful sense of team.”
After their incredible WAC tournament performance, the Utah State Aggies took that sense of team to the NCAA tournament, where they were pitted against PAC-10 champs California, who finished the season with a 25-3 record and No. 4 national ranking.
“We wanted to do those things that we do well,” said coach DuBose when asked about his game plan. “We wanted to be able to serve really tough and to block well. One of the things we always concentrate on is taking care of our side, making sure that we’re doing the right thing on our side of the net, and that gives us our best opportunity to compete.”
The Aggies, though, came out in the first set a little flat and a little outmatched. After tying the set at 6-6, Cal used a 7-2 run to push their lead as they went on to the 25-15 set win. The second set was even worse for USU as they went down 8-1 early and never recovered as the Golden Bears cruised to a 25-11 win.
“One of the things they did very well is they served a lot tougher than I thought they were going to,” said DuBose. “That limited our offensive opportunities because we were not in system as much as we would have liked to have been.”
After the halftime break, the Aggies came out with some fire. In the third set, Utah State fought back, forcing six ties in the set, but it was not enough to stop Cal as they went on another 8-1 run to give them a 20-13 lead and propel them to a five-point win.
The Aggies had trouble throughout the match offensively, struggling to penetrate a tough Golden Bears defense. For the match, USU hit a season low .060 (26-19-117), while allowing Cal to hit .342 (49-11-111). Cal also recorded 21 more digs and six more blocks than Utah State which was too much for the Aggies to overcome.
“There’s a reason they’re the PAC-10 champs,” DuBose said. “It’s not like that’s a piece of cake conference. They were good at what they did and they executed at a really high level and we didn’t.”
One difference leading up to the tournament for the Aggies was the amount of time they had between matches. After winning the WAC championship on Nov. 24, USU had almost a week and a half to prepare for the tournament. Such a long break can sometimes kill a team’s momentum, but DuBose said that was not the case.
“I didn’t feel like the break affected our momentum,” DuBose said. “I thought it was a benefit to us. We gave the players a couple days off and I thought that was a real benefit physically for us. Having those days off really allowed those girls to come back into the practice gym rejuvenated.”
The Aggies’ accomplishments this season are about more than just a great team who worked together, and DuBose is very appreciative of the support of all the Aggie fans that have helped make this season so memorable.
“I really appreciate the support of the students,” DuBose said. “They made playing in the Spectrum a wonderful experience for our kids, and a not-so-comfortable experience for the opposing team. They really gave us a home court advantage.”
– mark.israelsen@aggiemail.usu.edu